Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 3

Several spots have become permanent mini-waste dumping sites in different parts of the Smart City Chandigarh.

At some places, people dump waste while at some places, labourers or waste collectors throw it. On its part, the MC has failed to check this open dumping of waste. Neither could it get it cleared nor challan the violators to discourage them from repeating the act.

No wonder this well-planned City Beautiful failed to make it to the top 10 cleanest cities in the country for two consecutive years in the nationwide Swachh Survekshan.

In the last year’s cleanliness survey, the city stood 16th while in 2019 it was ranked 20th. It is a big fall for the city, which was the third best in India in 2018.

In a random check, waste was seen dumped at several areas, including a parking lot in Sector 17, the Sector 22 mobile market parking lot, an open ground in front of jhuggis in Sector 38, the Sector 26 grain market, an open ground in Sector 34 and southern sectors.

“Some places have become mini-dumping grounds with no check from the corporation. Waste dumps can be seen on both sides of the road separating Sector 40-C and 40-D. People, who have construction work going on, dump debris in public places. Waste collectors also use such places to segregate garbage. Areas along the forest belt are the worst hit,” said VN Sharma, chairman, RWA, Sector 40.

A shopkeeper at the Sector 22 market said, “The issue in our market is that we have big items to throw as waste and MC bins are small. Thus, shopkeepers throw it outside. The corporation should ensure they send a special vehicle to collect garbage from us.”

Interestingly, the MC recently launched a month-long special sanitation drive under Swachh Bharat Mission, but mini-dumping sites seem to have been ignored.